Travel Map Bulletin Board (A Tutorial)

(Note: if you don’t have a Silhouette machine you can use state stickers or find someone who cuts vinyl on Etsy and see if they can cut a map for you!)

I recently made this map for Boo to keep track of her travels with! I started with a 99 cent bulletin board from the thrift store and hot pink spray paint:

First, I sprayed a base layer of hot pink:

Next, I had my Silhouette machine cut out a map of the United States out of adhesive shelf paper (the template for the map was 99 cents from the Silhouette store….completely worth it). I peeled and stuck each state into place leaving a tiny gap in between. I also cut out the wording “Sienna’s Travels”:

(read more after the jump)

After the map was in place I used white spray paint to cover the entire bulletin board:

When the paint was completely dry, I carefully peeled off each state leaving the pink image behind (basically a reverse stencil):

The finished map!

For pins I took regular sewing pins and labels:

I cut a small strip of a label and folded it around each pin making it a small flag and then wrote the city name on it:

Each pin represents a place that Boo has visited. The little house represents where we live:

She’s slowly learning geography and so am I (which is why I left the name of the states off):

I love it! I need another geography lesson myself. THis would be perfect for my little one to learn her states. We’ve moved quite a bit the past couple years w/ the navy, and I’d love for her to actually visualize all the states & houses she remembers. 🙂

Love this idea!!! We have also moved a lot these past few years and have family throughout the country. Another example of why I having been wishing for a Silhouette just because of all the neat ideas you come up with. That said, would you be willing to sell the completed stencils for others to use?